Chapter 16

THE BATTLES OF
BHANGANI AND NADAUN

The Guru’s peaceful days in Paonta came to an abrupt end. Once the fort of Paonta had been built, the Guru attracted Bhim Chand’s attention again. Once again the raja of Bilaspur’s jealousy was aroused. He was considered the most powerful of the hill rajas and, according to tradition, all the other rajas would come to him to seek his help in settling all their disputes and quarrels. Now the Guru had taken over this role.

The raja sent a carefully worded message to various kings in the neighbouring regions. Why does the Guru need to build up a strong army, he asked the other kings. He went on to say that the answer was obvious; the Guru was going to use it to defeat the rajas, one by one, and take over their kingdoms. Unless they all united to throw him out, the Guru would soon get rid of them. This struck a chord in the rajas’ hearts because it echoed their own fears and suspicions of the growing influence of the Guru and the growing strength of the Sikhs.

One of the main reasons why the rajas wanted to throw the Guru out of the area was his influence on the poorer sections of their people. For centuries they had treated the people of the lower castes as their slaves. But now the Guru had taught them that caste was created by man in order to exploit other men. In the eyes of God there was no caste and all men were born equal. He taught those amongst his followers who had been born in the lower castes to stand up for their rights and to be afraid of no one, but God.

The rajas saw in this an undermining of their authority and a reduction in their strength and power, and were quick to respond to Bhim Chand’s overtures. They all pledged their support, except Fateh Shah and Medini Prakash, who were both great admirers of the Guru.

Bhim Chand blackmailed Fateh Shah to get his support against the Guru by threatening to break off his son’s engagement to his daughter. Fateh Shah had no option but to pledge his support, even though it meant fighting against the Guru, whom he admired above all other men.

Having secured Fateh Shah on his side, Bhim Chand made one final effort to isolate the Guru completely. He sent a secret message to Medini Prakash. In this message he said he knew that the raja of Sirmour could not draw his sword against the Guru as the Guru was his guest. At the same time, Medini Prakash should realize that the hill rajas, including Fateh Shah, were now all on one side. If Medini Prakash fought against them on the Guru’s side, he would become their enemy for life; and his children would be the enemies of their children. Medini Prakash knew that this was not an empty threat, because Rajputs never forgave an enemy. Sometimes revenge was taken a hundred years after a wrong had committed. Slowly, King Medini Prakash began to avoid the Guru. Many of the Guru’s messages to him went unanswered.

The Guru understood the reason for the cooling off of both of Fateh Shah’s affection and Medini Prakash’s friendship. He would have wished for them to have had more courage, but he did not blame them.

He knew that when the crisis came, he could not expect help from anyone. So he began to make all the preparations that he could. He had among his followers, one Ram Singh from Banaras, who was a skilled artisan in brass casting. With his help, the Guru designed a canon, which Ram Singh cast for him and before the battle, the Guru was able to train a few of his soldiers in the use of this canon, so that they could fire the canon with a fair degree of accuracy.

Bhim Chand heard of the Guru’s preparations and knew that he had to strike at once. A council of the rajas was called, and after much deliberation, a message was sent to the Guru at Paonta asking him to leave the hills and promising him a safe passage if he did so. The Guru replied that he was a guest of the raja of Sirmour. Only Raja Medini Prakash could ask him to leave Sirmour. When he did leave Paonta, it would be to return to his home in Anandpur. His father had bought the land on which Anandpur was built. As such no one had the moral or legal right to ask him to leave Anandpur. If the rajas felt they could evict him by force, they were most welcome to try and do so.

Having sent off the message the Guru knew that there were only a few days left at his disposal. He had made a detailed study of the craft of battle and of different strategies and battle formations. He had practised all that he had studied and knew what movements would be suitable to his men and to the geographical area around Paonta. He knew that the occupation of a strategic position was of prime importance. Quickly and carefully, the Guru made his choice of the battleground. He moved his men out of Paonta and positioned them in the area between the Yamuna and the river Giri.

On the day of the battle, when the sun rose, the Guru’s men saw the vast army of the rajas that was drawn up against them and some of them felt fear grip their hearts. The first group that gave in to this fear was the Udasis, who had come from Anandpur as the Guru’s escort. All of them, except their leader Mahant Kirpal Das, fled from the field even before the battle began.

The second group to desert the Guru was that of the Pathans. They had been offered rich rewards of land and money if they deserted the Guru’s army and came over to the side of the rajas. Now, seeing the vast army arrayed against them, the Pathans, forgetting all their promises of devotion and allegiance, gave in to the temptation of this offer and went over to the enemy’s side.

He smiled when he heard the news of this desertion. He moved amongst his men, encouraging them, modifying his battle plans and rearranging his positions according to the changing needs.

The Guru’s disciple, Syed Budhu Shah who had heard about the impending battle, gathered all the able-bodied men of his dera and armed them with whatever weapons he could lay his hands on. With seven hundred armed men, including his own sons, he rode out to the Guru’s assistance as fast as he could. They reached the battlefield well in time to help the Guru. Quickly the saint’s soldiers moved to the positions the Guru assigned them. When the Guru’s men heard of the new arrivals, they felt a revival of their strength and morale. The news of the Pathans’ desertion had travelled back to Paonta and, as the first light broke in the sky, every able-bodied man in Paonta, who could ride or walk, gathered whatever weapons he could lay his hands on and came out to join his Guru. Shortly after the sun rose, the Guru gave the orders for his men to charge towards the much bigger army of the rajas.

It was a short but fiercely fought battle, which the Guru’s army won. Guru Gobind has described this engagement in Bachitar Natak, a part of the Dasam Granth:

Angered by the battle, Hari Chand shot his arrows at me. One of them hit my horse. He shot another arrow. God protected me and the arrow only grazed my ear. Then Hari Chand fired his third arrow. This went through the buckle of my waistband. God Himself protected me and though this arrow touched my body, it did not harm me. I was angered by this. I picked up my bow. I began to rain arrows on the enemy. The enemy fled before this. I took aim and hit Hari Chand. As he collapsed, my brave soldiers rushed forward and destroyed them completely. Those who escaped my soldiers, fled in terror. It was the mercy of God Almighty that gave us victory. I rewarded the deserving soldiers generously. There was rejoicing all around.

The Guru realized that it was now time for him to return to Anandpur. He had left Anandpur because it was felt that he was not yet ready to face an open conflict with Raja Bhim Chand. The victory at Bhangani proved that this situation no longer existed. He had successfully defeated the combined strength of the rajas. He also did not want to stay in Paonta any longer because his presence there had now become an embarrassment for his host. Medini Prakash had been very kind to him and given him help when he had most needed it. The least he could do, in return, was to spare him any awkwardness with his fellow rajas. So, shortly after the battle, the Guru sent an affectionate message to his host; thanking him for all that he had done for the Guru. And then the Guru made a quiet departure for Anandpur.

It was as if without the Guru, Anandpur had become a ghost of its former self. Now with the Guru’s return, Anandpur came alive once again. All those who had left the town, now returned to live there again. News of the Guru’s success at Bhangani had spread far and wide and more and more people returned to take up residence in Anandpur.

The Guru’s victory won him the admiration of Raja Bhim Chand of Bilaspur as well. The raja had to admit that the Guru was a military genius. The Guru’s army had been very much smaller than the army of the hill rajas and yet, with his skill in planning battles and his ability to inspire his followers, the Guru had won a resounding victory. The raja admired him for this. He felt that it would be more sensible and practical to have the Guru as his friend rather than as his enemy.

A few months after the Battle of Bhangani, Aurangzeb, who was still in the Deccan sent an urgent message to Mian Khan, the Governor of Jammu, asking him to collect tribute from the hill rajas.

As long as Aurangzeb was in Delhi, the hill rajas had sent their tribute regularly to his court. Now that he had been away in the Deccan for many years, the threat of being attacked by the Mughal army had receded into the background, and no longer appeared real. So many of the kings, including the hill rajas, had stopped paying tribute and, by so doing, had asserted their independence.

Aurangzeb realized that the refusal to pay tribute weakened his position and felt that action needed to be taken to reassert his supremacy. He himself could not come away from the Deccan. Nor could he spare his army. So he wrote to the most powerful Governor in each region asking him to collect the tribute on behalf of the emperor. The implication of the message was clear: those who refused to pay the tribute must be destroyed.

Mian Khan sent messengers to each of the hill rajas asking them to send their tribute to him in Jammu.

Bhim Chand had savoured the freedom from Mughal supremacy and had no desire to return to the state of being a vassal of the emperor, a feeling that was shared by most of the other hill rajas. He also realized that on their own, they did not have the skill to organize their armies into an effective fighting force, a fact that the disastrous battle of Bhangani had proved only too clearly. The only person in the region who could help the rajas was Guru Gobind. He alone could bring their armies together and and knit them into a strong, cohesive fighting force. If he agreed to lead their army, Bhim Chand knew that they could defeat Mian Khan. It was important that the Guru should be won over as quickly as possible. His wazirs agreed that it was more urgent to secure the raja’s position as an independent king than to avenge their defeat at Bhangani. It was decided to send an envoy to Guru Gobind asking for his help.

The Guru put all past differences aside and responded at once to the rajas’ request because he believed that their cause was just. The hill rajas had been ruling their little kingdoms for centuries and they had a right to rule without interference from the Mughal emperor. He invited Raja Bhim Chand and his queen to visit Anandpur and at the end of the visit, he pledged support to the raja. With the promise of the Guru’s support, the rajas all united under one flag and refused to pay tribute to the emperor.

Once again, after careful consideration, the Guru chose the battlefield. The place was Nadaun, twenty miles southeast of Kangra, on the left bank of the Beas. This chosen site would give the allies the greatest advantage in battle.

In the opening moments of the battle, the Mughal army appeared to be extremely strong, almost invincible. Hussain Khan, the Mughal commander, fought with such great courage that it seemed that he would win, and Bhim Chand began to have doubts, and wished to sue for peace.

Then the Guru himself rode into battle. The battle raged on and the Mughal soldiers began to fall back under the fierce attack of the allied soldiers. The next morning, when the allied army took up their position again, they found there was no enemy to oppose them. Great was the joy in the allied army at this splendid victory.

In spite of this great victory, the rajas could not overcome their fear of the Mughals. As part of the victory celebration, they held a council to decide what course of action they should adopt in the future. Many of the rajas felt that their victory would not buy them peace for long because the moment Aurangzeb heard of this defeat, he would send a much bigger and much stronger army against them, an army against which they could not hope to make a stand, and Raja Bhim Chand, who had so vociferously demanded that the rajas should take a stand against the Mughals and thus give them a resounding slap in the face, now rescinded from this stand. He advocated that the rajas should make their peace with the Mughals by paying the tribute that Alif Khan demanded. So the tribute was collected from all the rajas, and one of Bhim Chand’s senior ministers was appointed as ambassador to deliver this to Alif Khan in Jammu.

The Guru was disgusted by the Rajas’ lack of courage and did not want to have anything more to do with them. He withdrew from the court and from the victory celebrations and returned home to Anandpur.